Cassopolis man going back to prison for drunken driving

NILES — An 11th drunken driving conviction proved to be too much as a Cassopolis man was sentenced to more than three years in prison today in Berrien County Trial Court.

Russell Paul Price, 47, pleaded guilty to third offense drunken driving and was sentenced to 40 months to five years in prison. He was given concurrent terms of 90 days for possession of marijuana and 180 days for driving with a suspended license.

He was given credit for five days already served and must pay $2,473 in fines and costs. This is the second time he has been sent to prison for drunken driving.

The incident occurred Dec. 3 at Walton Road and River Street in Buchanan.

"He has a history of drunk driving," Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Travis said. "This is his 11th conviction for it and the last time he was sent to prison. He's not probation or local jail material. ... If he wants to drink himself to death at home, he can, but it's another thing to get behind the wheel of a car when he's drunk."

Price said he never thought he'd be in court again for drunken driving. He said he went to counseling for a while and was on medications, but couldn't afford to continue with either. He said it was a "drastic mistake" to drink alcohol again and to get behind the wheel of a car.

"There's no question that you're an alcoholic and continue to abuse drugs," Berrien County Trial Judge Dennis Wiley said. "Then you get behind the wheel of a car and endanger every other human being out there. This is your 11th conviction. One of these days you're going to kill someone else or yourself."

Wiley said that he departed from the sentencing guidelines of seven to 23 months because they did not give sufficient weight to the number of prior convictions Price had.